


Confessions

by RodeRozen



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Humor, M/M, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-09
Updated: 2019-05-09
Packaged: 2020-02-29 03:48:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 7
Words: 5,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18770569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RodeRozen/pseuds/RodeRozen
Summary: Seven years at Hogwarts with the Marauders. Each year a confession.





	1. the broken record

20th MAY 1972

 

“James, we’ve got detention in twenty minutes,” Sirius whined.  
“What did you do this time?” Remus asked without looking up from his book. James gasped.  
“You didn’t hear about our latest masterplan?!”  
“Y’know, we did get caught,” Peter hesitantly said. Sirius rolled his eyes.  
“We set off dungbombs in the Great Hall,” he informed Remus.  
“But-,” Peter started to protest. He was cut off by Sirius saying:  
“We really need to leave, bye Remus!”  
With that, all of them left, leaving their roommate with the uncanny feeling something was wrong.

“Why did you lie to him?” Peter asked as soon as they were out of earshot. Behind him, Sirius sighed.  
“Remus can’t know we suspect something, obviously,” James explained. “If he knew we were nosing through McGonagall’s documents, he’d realise we were on to something.”  
Peter wisely kept his mouth shut.

James could not believe his luck.  
“I want you to short through these archives,” McGonagall told them.  
The very archives they had been trying to break into.  
The door burst open.  
“Peeves...statue....students...injured....” Filch panted, leaning against the doorway.  
“I trust you’ll be alright here for a few minutes?”  
With that, their professor left her office.  
James and Sirius looked at each other and promptly burst out laughing.  
Peter just looked lost.

“Not in the archives, obviously,” James stated, “but where would it be?”  
“If she recorded anything, it’s probably on her desk,” remarked Sirius.  
“But that pile’s huge!”  
“Accio documents concerning Remus!” said James, ignoring Peter.  
A single slip of paper drifted over to them. Self-satisfied, James smirked. Those 4th years spells were coming in handy after all.  
‘To James, Sirius and Peter,  
As you were supposed to be sorting out the archives, meet me for detention each evening the following week. Oh, and do demonstrate that spell to Professor Flitwick so he can give you more advanced homework.  
Sincerely,  
Professor McGonagall.’  
“Shit,” Sirius said after James had read the letter to them.

“Mr. Lupin? Could you come with me for a second?” Minerva McGonagall asked her student.  
“Sure, Professor.”  
“Are you aware of why your friends got placed in detention yesterday?” she carefully probed.  
“They set of dungbombs in the Great Hall.”  
“While I certainly believe they might have done that, too, it was not the reason.”  
Remus looked baffled. Minerva sighed.  
“They were trying to break into my archives.”  
“Why would they do that? And why are you telling me this?” the boy questioned.  
“I suspect they do not believe your excuses any longer. Do you understand what I’m saying?”  
“They’re trying to find out my secret,” Remus whispered, paling.  
“Indeed. It is up to you, Mr. Lupin.”  
She walked away.

 

28th MAY 1972

 

“I have to leave, guys. My grandmother died.” Remus crossed his fingers behind his back, hoping his friends wouldn’t see through the lie.  
Sirius rolled his eyes, and that hope crawled in a corner to go die.  
“You mean the one who died in October?” James innocently asked.  
“Or the one who died in January?” Peter piped up, looking scared. Remus vaguely wondered if they’d rehearsed this.  
“Really, how many more grandmothers do you have?”  
Apparently, it was up to Sirius to deliver the death blow.  
“What’s really going on? Because you’re lying to us,” James accused.  
“I am,” Remus acquiesced, gazing at the floor. “But I can’t tell you. It’s...I just can’t.”  
He turned on his heel and stormed out the door, knowing the transformation would not be kind on him that night.


	2. the furry little...rabbit?

23rd SEPTEMBER 1972

 

“C’mon, Remus, tell us!” James pleaded  
“No,” he resolutely answered.  
Sirius crossed his arms over his chest, sulking. Ever since they’d confronted him about his lies, Remus hadn’t bothered telling any more.  
Unfortunately, he also hadn’t bothered telling them the truth.  
After their pale-looking friend had left the dorm, James went to sit on Sirius’s bed.  
“Maybe we should start guessing,” he said.  
“And where do you suggest we start?” Sirius sarcastically replied.  
“We could make a list of when he disappears?”  
“No.”  
“Why not?”  
“Because I’m not sure I want to find out,” Sirius sighed.  
“Huh?” James stupidly said.  
“Think about it. Had Remus ever hidden anything else from us?”  
Peter caught on first.  
“So this is something big,” the small boy concluded.  
“Or he could just be really embarrassed about it?” James half-heartedly suggested. Sirius shot him a look.  
“Still, we should find out,” James decided.

“Ouch! That was my foot, Peter,” Sirius complained.  
“Where do we go?” James hissed. It was rather dark in the castle, and they had not been able to find his invisibility cloak.  
“I don’t know! You wanted to do this, not me.”  
Suddenly, someone grabbed him by the collar.  
“What have we here? Students out of bed?” the voice of Argus Filch sneered.  
If James found out who had taken his cloak, he was going to kill them.

Coughing, Remus downed the last of an extraordinary foul-tasting potion. Setting the goblet down, he sighed. As he grew, the wolf was getting more and more violent, which resulted in him getting more and more beaten up after each full moon.  
“Argus, you know you can’t on mornings like these!” he heard Madam Pomfrey loudly complain. Filch must have brought someone in for detention, Remus mused. It had happened a time or two before, and usually resulted in the caretaker getting told off by Dumbledore.  
“But I caught them sneaking around the hallways!”  
“And must they be given detention before breakfast?!”  
“It would be a suitable punishment for them to miss it.”  
“They were only five minutes early.”  
“Which is not allowed.”  
“Fine, leave them,” she eventually relented. “I will report this to the headmaster, though, make no mistake.”  
Filch grunted, and moments later Remus heard a door slam.  
“How are you feeling?” Madam Pomfrey asked, brushing past the privacy curtains.  
“It’s getting worse,” he quietly admitted.  
“I thought it might. I’ve got some students here to serve detention, unfortunately, but I’ll cast a charm on the curtains.”  
Remus just nodded.

“Scrub the floor with a toothbrush? Really?” James complained.  
“At least we aren’t sorting paperwork again,” Peter remarked.  
“Yeah, that was a right disaster. Who do you think she was talking to, earlier?” Sirius asked.  
“No idea,” James muttered, shaking his head. “Strange conversation, though.”  
“D’you think we should try to get past those curtains?” Sirius suggested.  
“You can’t be serious. She cast a charm on them!” Peter squeaked.  
“As a matter of fact, I am.” Sirius joked.  
“That’s an absolutely horrible pun,” James scolded. “I taught you better than that!”  
“No, really?” Sirius chuckled. “Anyway, I do want to find out.”  
James groaned. Once his best friend set his mind on something, he did not let it go.  
Ever.  
“Why don’t we just go ‘round the back?” Peter – in a remarkable display of intelligence – asked.  
Sirius slapped himself upside the head.  
“We should’ve thought of that!” he whined.  
Peter looked vaguely affronted.

Shit, shit, shit. Remus burrowed deeper under the covers, hoping his friends wouldn’t see him. They had, unfortunately, found the one loophole in Madam Pomfrey’s barrier.  
Granted, it was a pretty obvious one, and had taken them long enough to spot.  
Still, he supposed he could say goodbye to Hogwarts.  
They were bound to find out soon.

“And now?” Sirius wondered. He was pacing around their dorm, while Peter and James sat on his bed.  
Remus had been flustered when they found him in the hospital wing. Still, he’d refused to tell them why he was there, and Madam Pomfrey – who, apparently, had eyes glued to the wall – came to his rescue minutes later.  
They had ended up getting an hour of extra detention.  
“We should make that list anyway. Maybe we’ll find the connection,” James firmly said.

 

20th NOVEMBER, 1972

 

23rd September 1972 (saw Remus in hospital wing)  
22nd October 1972  
20th November 1972

“So, what do you think?” James asked, showing his friends the list he’d made.  
“I don’t see the connection,” Sirius replied, frowning.  
James sighed, leaning against the window.  
“Maybe we should go through his trunk?” Peter suggested.  
“Already tried that,” he absently answered. “It’s locked by some really powerful magic.”  
“Does Remus even know that kind of spells?” Sirius asked.  
“Maybe, but as far as I could tell they were above N.E.W.T. level,” James wearily said. “There’s no way he could have casted them.”  
“So the teachers know,” Peter uncertainly stated.  
“Of course they do,” Sirius muttered, rolling his eyes. “We found him in the hospital wing, didn’t we?”  
“Maybe we should just ask a teacher?” James suggested.  
“As if they’d tell us,” Sirius snorted.  
“It’s claustrophobic in here,” James complained. “Can’t we go for a walk?”  
His friends, long used to his bizarre requests, nodded and got up. James grabbed his cloak – which, as it turned out, had just been misplaced by Peter – and the three of them headed for the lake.

“It’s beautiful here,” James dreamily sighed. Sirius smacked the back of his head.  
“It’s creepy, that’s what it is. There shouldn’t be this much light.”  
“It’s just the full moon, you know,” Peter commented.  
“Still, it’s creepy.”  
James snorted.  
“It’s not creepy. It’s a clue!”  
“Uh?” the other two chorused.  
“You see, you’ve got one full moon each month. Do you remember if the previous dates-?” he excitedly asked, but was cut off by Sirius.  
“I think they were,” he gasped, horrified. “You don’t think...?”  
“I think I think what you think I think.”  
“Shoot that sentence,” Peter ordered. “Now.”  
In the current situation, no one found it even remotely funny.  
“We should confront him,” Sirius sighed.  
“Yeah. Shouldn’t be a problem,” James weakly said.  
“Now?” Peter asked.  
“Of course not, idiot. It’s a full moon,” Sirius pointed out, rolling his eyes.  
“Oh, right. What are we going to confront him about, though?”  
Both boys sighed.

Hesitantly, Remus limped up to his dorm. Ever since his friends had spotted him in the hospital wing, they’d been suspiciously quiet about the whole matter.  
The Marauders were never quiet. Whenever they were anything that even remotely resembled quiet-ness, things went awry. Therefore, Remus reasoned, he had good reason to be worried.  
Pushing against the door, he carefully entered, wary of any pranks coming his way.  
He had almost made it to the bed when he tripped over something. Landing face down on his- well, it should have been his bed, but it felt like someone was already under the covers.  
Carefully lifting them up, Remus saw stuffed animals.  
Loads of them.  
In various colours.  
Various sizes.  
And one shape.  
Wolves.  
“SURPRISE!” his friends yelled from...somewhere.  
“C-cloak?” Remus faintly said. He’d have to leave Hogwarts. They’d found him out. It was only second year, and they’d found him out. Defeated, he tried to control his voice to prevent any fear from showing.  
“I swear I’ll go away. I’ll leave and never come back. You don’t have to see me ever again. I promise, I didn’t infect anyone. Just...just don’t hurt me,” he pathetically begged.  
James threw the cloak off, but Sirius reached him first. Scared, Remus cowered against the wall.  
He blinked in astonishment when Sirius just wrapped his arms around him, allowing Remus to rest his head on the other boy’s shoulder.  
James spoke up first.  
“Hurt you? Why?”  
“Werewolf,” he brought out.  
“Yes, we know,” Sirius soothed. “It doesn’t matter to us.”  
“...what?”  
“It doesn’t matter,” Sirius firmly repeated. “It’s only one night a month. The rest of the time, you’re just you.”  
Remus didn’t have the heart to correct him, and instead allowed himself to slump against the taller boy’s frame. Sirius gently stroked his hair.  
“It’s okay, Remus,” James added. “We don’t care. Right, Peter?”  
“N-no!” Peter squeaked, hiding behind James.  
Remus sighed. As if reading his mind, Sirius spoke up:  
“If Peter doesn’t get his mind in working order soon, he’s not getting any toast tomorrow, so don’t worry about that.”  
He couldn’t help it; he started laughing. Wiping tears from mirth and relief from his face, he whispered:  
“Thanks, guys.”


	3. the great S.E.X. disaster

“Remuuuus!”  
Remus groaned, shielding his face as a whole load of Sirius pounced on him.  
“What?” he moodily replied. He had been reading. Everyone knew not to disturb him when he was reading.  
...Okay, so that wasn’t true. It seemed like his friends waited for him to pick up a book before seeking him out.  
“Why do we have Astronomy in the middle of the day?”  
He had been pondering that very question himself just a few minutes ago. They had had a temporary change in timetables, but Astronomy at noon?  
Either there would be a few very boring theory lessons, or something else was going on.  
“Do I look like Professor Sinistra?”  
Sirius pouted. Remus sighed.  
“I don’t know, okay? Now get off me.”  
“Sirius! We have Astronomy at a different time tomorrow!” the voice of James shouted.  
“Aren’t you clever,” Sirius muttered.  
Remus rolled his eyes.

“Merlin, that was horrible!” James exclaimed as soon as they had left the classroom.  
“They just...they just made us sit there and listen to that!” Sirius agreed.  
“Don’t you think you’re exaggerating a bit? It was only-”  
“NO! Don’t say the word, Remus, don’t say the word!”  
“...you’re being overdramatic.”  
“I still don’t get what it was about,” Peter whined.  
“Too bad, as we’ll never be speaking of this terrible incident ever again!” James announced.  
“We’ll be having this class again, you know,” Remus remarked.  
When James’s eyes began to shine, he wished he hadn’t.  
“The only appropriate thing to do in this situation...”  
“Is pulling a prank,” Sirius finished for James.  
“I don’t understand,” Peter complained.  
“What kind of prank?” Remus warily asked.  
“What would be the most fun?” James cheerily asked  
“Flooding something’s always nice,” Sirius said.  
“We’re not actually working with water here,” Remus sighed.  
“So we’ll use something else!” James laughed.  
“I’m doomed,” Remus groaned.

“Pads.”  
“Tampons.”  
“Uteruses.”  
“That’s gross, Sirius!”  
“Sperm.”  
“Red hair.”  
“No, James.”  
Remus wearily watched the debate go on. The two pranksters had been at it for hours, trying to decide what they were going to flood the classroom with. He wondered if it’d be very suspicious if he didn’t show up for class.  
“Condoms,” Sirius suggested.  
“And lube,” James added.  
“You’re kidding, right?” Peter spoke up.  
“They aren’t,” Remus assured his friend. “They’re really going to. But condoms and lube? Half the class won’t know what that is, you realise?”  
“That’s the idea,” James evilly smirked.  
“D’you think we can skip this class?” Peter asked, echoing Remus’s earlier thoughts.  
“No,” he replied. “They’ll skin us alive if we do.”  
“Smart boy,” Sirius praised, patting Remus’s head. He swatted the hand away, smiling.  
“You’d better start looking up spells, then.”  
“Noooooo!”  
“I’m not helping you.”  
“Please?”  
“Nope.”  
Grumbling, Sirius started browsing the shelves. Remus shook his head in bemusement. If those two actually worked like that for their classes, they’d ace all of them.  
Apparently, pranks were more important. Although he’d never understand them, their antics always managed to cheer him up.  
Remus smiled. He was lucky to have such good friends.

“Please don’t!” Peter begged.  
“Sorry, Pete,” James mock-apologised.  
“Imagine all of our efforts going to waste!” Sirius dramatically sighed, pretending to faint.  
The four of them were having breakfast in the Great Hall. Their first period would be ‘Astronomy’ again, which really just meant The Horror Class Called Sexual Education Meant To Torture Third-Years – at least, according to James. Remus just thought of it as S.E., which was much easier to wrap your tongue around.  
“We’ve got everything, right?” James whispered to Sirius. Remus heard, of course.  
“I know the incantation, and Secret Objects One and Two are located inside my school bag.”  
He wondered who had allowed Sirius to watch detective movies. They really ought to be given a fitting punishment.  
Listening to him talk, for example.  
“Are you sure about this?” he asked, wondering why he even bothered.  
“Of course we are!” James proudly said, puffing up his chest.  
“What could go wrong?” Sirius smirked.  
“We could get caught, get detention,-” Peter protested.  
“Sure, Peter, whatever. Like we care!” Sirius waved it off.  
“Do you enjoy detention or what?” Remus demanded.  
“Ah, for great pranks there is always a prize to pay, and we’ll do it gladly!” declared James. Rolling his eyes, Remus gave up.

For the hundredth time that hour, Remus warily looked around, scanning the room. The lesson was almost over, and there still hadn’t been any flooding or exploding whatsoever. It was highly suspicious. Then he saw James and Sirius exchanging looks, and knew the time for endless detention had come.  
Mumbling the incantation under his breath, Sirius pointed his wand at the lube and condoms. Resisting the temptation to strangle him, Remus turned his attention back to the board.  
“And so we will now all attempt to-” Whatever else Professor Sinistra had been saying was drowned out by the cries of the class as they noticed their two fellow classmates. Apparently, the spell hadn’t worked correctly, and so James was now a giant condom and Sirius a human-sized bottle of lube.  
Remus fell out of his chair laughing.  
Right at that moment, Professor McGonagall entered the classroom.  
“Aurora, the headmaster- what in Merlin’s name is going on here?”  
“I don’t know!” a Hufflepuff girl replied. “They just turned into....that.”  
“Mr. Lupin, do you happen to know anything about this?” McGonagall asked, looking like she was about to erupt in a fit of giggles.  
“They were trying to flood the classroom with those things,” Remus hiccuped, barely containing his laughter long enough to answer. The bottle of lube glared at him. “I swear I didn’t help them.”  
The condom joined the bottle in his glaring-at-Remus endeavor.  
“Wonderful. It seems we have our educational material for the first years,” McGonagall said.  
The condom fainted.


	4. the late-night bother

Someone was yelling. Loudly.  
That someone was also pulling at his arm. And where had his covers gone again? Drowsily, Remus rolled over in search of them.  
This caused him to bump heads with James, who, apparently, was the culprit.  
“What hour is it?” Remus hissed. If there was one thing he hated...  
“Two o’clock,” James replied, warily backing off.  
“What in the world is so important at two o’clock in the night?!” the outraged boy demanded, sitting up.  
“I’ve got something very important to tell you.” James walked backwards even further.  
“Then wake Sirius up, you prat!” He never minded being woken up in the middle of the night. Not as much as Remus, anyway.  
“I was going to,” James pouted, bumping against a bed.  
“Instead of me!” Remus shouted just as James fell backwards, onto the sleeping form of Sirius. Standing up, he walked over toward the tangle of boy and leaned over them. “So tell us,” he darkly said, moonlight dancing over his pale features. James visibly swallowed.  
“James bothering you?” an impossibly-awake Sirius asked.  
“I’m in love, okay?!” the bother declared at a volume that should be forbidden before eight in the morning. Actually, Remus mused, it very well could be. Oh, bloody hell. If he was awake enough to- wait. What had he said? In love? Grabbing James by the collar, Remus lifted him up.  
“Have you lost your mind? That. Can. Wait. Until. Morning!” he gritted out.  
“Unghn,” managed James, turning an alarming shade of blue.  
“Easy, Remus. You can sleep in, it’s a Saturday,” Sirius soothed. “Now let James go before he suffocates.”  
Appalled at his own behaviour, Remus promptly released his friend, resulting in the latter landing in a heap on the floor.  
Slowly retracing his steps, he almost incoherently muttered:  
“No...sorry...sleep...go ‘way!”

Sirius sighed, knowing he had a long night ahead of him. Remus had disappeared behind his curtains, and an eerie sort of quiet surrounded the bed.  
This meant there was actually a lot of noise, hidden by an excellent Silencing Charm – which was O.W.L.-level magic, and none of them save Remus had managed it yet. Thinking back, Sirius realised he’d been able to do that for more than two years now. After Christmas Break their second year, if he recalled correctly.  
“You are in trouble,” Sirius growled, glaring at James, who innocently gazed back. Shaking his head, he pushed the curtains aside.  
Normally, when you stepped into the area of a Silencing Charm, things became quieter, not louder. That wasn’t the case this time.  
“Remus! You are not a house-elf, stop it!” he yelled, grabbing his friend by the shoulders and pulling him away from the headboard he’d been banging his head against.  
“I nearly killed James.”  
“You did not, and besides, it was his own fault,” Sirius said, grinning when the contradiction caused a smile to spread over Remus’s face.  
“I’m sorry,” the werewolf whispered, burying his face in Sirius’s neck.  
“No one’s mad at you, and you know it,” he murmured, holding him close. Sighing deeply, Remus admitted:  
“I’m scared it might not always be that way.”  
Sirius just tightened his arms around him.

A while later, when James would approach the two, he’d find them in each other’s’ arms, fast asleep. The bespectacled boy, glad the argument was over, retreated back to his own bed, resolving not to imitate a failed alarm-spell again.


	5. the not-so-real rat plague

Madam Pomfrey?”  
“Yes, Mr. Lupin?” the mediwitch inquired, pausing from cleaning his wounds. It was the day after the full moon, and the wolf had been particularly vicious. Remus had lost count of the number of Blood-Replenishing Potions he’d had to drink. Oh, and his collarbone was broken, too. There would be a lot of scarring, but it didn’t really bother him, not anymore. What did bother him, however...  
“There was a rat in the Shack last night, but I don’t know how it got in.”  
And if a rat could get in, there was a chance he might be able to get out.  
“I’ll have the headmaster check it out, but it’s probably just a small crack,” Madam Pomfrey assured him.  
Remus sighed.

“And, Wormtail?” James excitedly asked. “How was it?”  
“I’m never going back in there. I thought he was going to eat me!” Peter Pettigrew answered, shaken. Sirius raised an eyebrow.  
“We’re all going, you know. Well, as soon as we figure out how to get past that tree,” the black-haired boy amended. They were all ready, but Peter was the only one small enough to get past the Whomping Willow.  
He and James were still thinking of excuses as to why they looked so beaten up.  
“Should we blame the Slytherins, you think?” Sirius asked James, ignoring Peter’s protests.  
“Nah. He’ll never believe that; they don’t punch people, they hex ‘em.”  
“True.”

Remus was sitting on the floor of the Shrieking Shack, waiting for the transformation to come upon him. Despite Dumbledore having secured every corner, he was still nervous about the possibility of getting out. No one knew how the rat had gotten in, though the Headmaster had left some rat venom. It shouldn’t cause him any problems if he somehow ingested it, but would be fatal to a small animal.  
Soon, the pain overwhelmed him.

“Rat venom! I think this is a new low, Peter.”  
“You mean, besides transforming into a rat?”  
Sleepily, Remus blinked. He couldn’t be hearing his best friends’ voices. It would mean...  
“I think he’s coming ‘round!”  
Please let that not be Sirius, please let that not be Sirius.  
Upon opening his eyes, Remus realised that yes, it was Sirius.  
And James.  
And Peter.  
“Did I-” he started to say, but was cut off by James.  
“You did not bite, or hurt, any of us.”  
“Though you did scare the crap out of Wormtail,” Sirius added.  
“How?” Remus asked, mystified.  
“You tried to eat me!” Peter sniffed. James laughed and thumped the distraught boy on the back.  
“No, he didn’t. Moony rescued you from the rat venom, we’ve told you that,” Sirius patiently said.  
“What in Merlin’s name is going on?” Remus demanded.  
Suddenly he was face-to-face with a stag, a huge black dog, and a rat.  
Who then changed into James, Sirius and Peter.  
“I-what-Animagi-how?”  
“Werewolves are only dangerous to humans, so we’ll keep you company as animals!” Sirius cheerfully announced.  
“You mean you’ve been here the whole full moon?” This could not be happening. His idiot friends were going to get themselves killed.  
“Remus, you didn’t hurt us,” James gently said. “In fact, you saved Peter’s life.” At Remus’s puzzled look, Sirius explained:  
“He was trying to eat the rat venom. You picked him up and set him on my back.”  
“After which I had to hold him in my mouth the whole night!” James whined.  
“Really? None of you got hurt?” Remus asked again.  
Sirius’s gaze softened.  
“I promise.”  
“You were actually very friendly,” James added.  
“He tried to eat me!”  
No one paid Peter any mind.  
“Thanks, guys,” Remus whispered.  
“Anytime, Moony,” Sirius murmured.  
“Moony?”  
“I’m Prongs, Sirius is Padfoot, Peter’s Wormtail.” James announced.  
“And you’re Moony!” Sirius added.  
Remus just groaned.


	6. I what!

“Uh, Moony?”  
“Yes?” groaned Remus. James was rolling on the floor laughing, and he was getting suspicious.  
“You tried to kiss me last night,” Sirius blurted.  
“I what?!”  
“You weren’t trying to bite me or anything!” the black-haired boy hurriedly added, seeing Remus pale.  
“How do you know?! I told you-” he was cut off by the two boys’ hysterical laughter. Peter just looked dumbfounded.  
Remus was getting even more of a headache than usual.  
“What is the matter with you two?!” Madam Pomfrey exclaimed, bursting into the hospital wing. At once, the noise ceased, and Remus breathed a sigh of relief.  
“The lot of you should let your friend rest. Off you go!” Grumbling, they complied, leaving behind one very frustrated werewolf.

Remus narrowed his eyes as he caught Sirius staring at him yet again. It had been three days since the full moon, yet neither of his friends seemed to think it might be nice to explain what had happened. Unfortunately, he didn’t think Peter knew what was going on, or he’d have asked him. The small boy was never very secretive.

“Padfoot?” James whispered, lying on his bed.  
“Yes?”  
“Don’t you think we should tell Remus?”  
“No.”  
“Why not?”  
“Because...”  
James sighed.  
“Maybe we should write it down,” he suggested.  
“No!”  
“Come on, Sirius. It’s not right to keep this from him.”  
Unbeknownst to the two boys, their roommate was listening. Even though it wasn’t a full moon, his senses were still keener than a normal human’s. Remus had never told his friends about these wolfish traits in fear of them rejecting him.  
It came in handy at times like these.  
“Keep what from me?”  
“Uh, well...” James stuttered.  
“Youhadahardon,” Sirius quickly mumbled. Remus caught it, though.  
“Eh, what?”  
“It’s how he knew you weren’t trying to bite him,” James helpfully supplied.  
“Yes, I guess that would be, um, a pretty indicative indicator,” Remus brought out, mortified.  
“Care to explain why?” James asked, ridiculously cheerful.  
“I thought not,” Sirius muttered as Remus ran from the room.

“Oh, come on, Padfoot. You know he’s just surprised,” James soothed a distraught Sirius.  
“How did you know, anyway? Was it that obvious?”  
“You always sleep in each other’s’ arms. What could be more obvious?”  
“Snogging?”  
“In that case, you wouldn’t need my help.”  
“Me, needing help to obtain a bi- uh, bloke,” Sirius grumbled.  
“I know. You’re completely smitten!” James crowed.  
Sirius threw a pillow at him.  
“Just be patient,” James said around the pillow, “he’ll realise he’s being a fool eventually.”  
“Now this is something for the record books; Remus Lupin acting like a fool!”  
“It’s hard to believe, isn’t it?”  
“Do shut up, Prongs.”  
“What, you defending your crush now?”  
“He’s not my crush!” Sirius yelled, blushing madly. “Girls have crushes!”  
“What would you call it, then?”  
“Soulmates.”  
“That’s even worse!” James tried to say, but as he was shaking with laughter, it came out more like: “Dsev’rse!”  
Sirius just sighed dreamily.

James caught up with Remus while he was staring moodily at the blackboard of an unused classroom. On the blackboard was an extensive thing that, at first glance, would look like a maths formula. Closer inspection, though, should then reveal it to be an analysis of ‘RemusXSirius’.  
He sighed, waiting for his friend’s inevitable questions.  
“You know, Sirius is miserable right now.” Remus narrowed his eyes, knowing James was probably exaggerating.  
“Okay, so maybe not miserable...but definitely not normal!”  
“So?” he asked, trying to appear distant in hopes of James leaving him alone. It was futile.  
“Don’t make that face. He’s wondering why you ran off, and...”  
Remus looked at James expectantly, who just covered his face with his hands, muttering:  
“Ask him yourself. It’s too embarrassing.”  
“I’m not going back in there.”  
“And I’m not telling you.”  
“Fine.”  
“Fine.”  
They stayed that way, both with their arms crossed in front of their chests, for about thirty seconds before James gave in.  
“He used an extremely mushy word to describe the two of you.”  
A spark of hope flickered to life in Remus’s chest, and preventing that spark starting a bonfire proved rather difficult.

What on earth had possessed him to say that to James? Sirius wondered. He was probably telling Remus all about it now, both of them giggling like schoolgirls. Oh, the horror.  
“Sirius?” someone hesitantly asked.  
“Go ‘way, Moony.”  
A gentle hand stroked through his hair. Deep inside him, Padfoot whined in approval and made him arch into the touch. He heard Remus chuckle.  
They sat like that for a while, neither pressing the other for answers.  
“Why?” Sirius suddenly asked.  
“Why what?”  
“Why did you run away?”  
“What word did you use?”  
“James didn’t tell you?”  
“He only said it was extremely mushy.”  
“Well. Well, I guess it was.”  
“So what was it?”  
“You don’t want to know.”  
“I’m pretty sure I do.” Sirius, surprised at the intensity of Remus’s voice, sat up to face him.  
“You ran away,” he said, mostly to remind himself.  
“I know. I’m sorry.”  
“Why?” he insisted.  
“Because I...I just couldn’t handle it, knowing the wolf had tried to...”  
“Tried to what?”  
“Help me,” Remus mumbled, and Sirius’s eyebrows shot up.  
“What do you mean?”  
“It’s your turn. What was James so flustered about?”  
“I might have let my girliness get away with me...”  
“And?”  
“He said you were my crush. I said you weren’t.” Oblivious to the flicker of hurt on Remus’s features, Sirius continued. “I said you were my soulmate.”  
“And you’re mine,” Remus whispered, leaning in to kiss him. “And the wolf knew it, too.”  
Sirius barely had time to register that last statement, for he was distracted by warm lips over his own.


	7. Wormtail wrote it!

“What do you think, pink paper or red?”  
“Maybe a bucket of cheese?” Sirius sarcastically said.  
“You can’t be serious.”  
“Obviously I am.”  
Remus decided it was time to interfere.  
“James, Sirius was referring to how pink and red valentine cards are horribly cheesy, not suggesting you give Lily cheese. Padfoot, that pun is over-used. It wants to curl up in a corner and die, therefore you are forbidden from using it any longer.”  
“But what should I give her?” James whined.  
“I don’t care!” Sirius yelled. Remus sent him a Look. Sirius cowered, well-used to what a Look meant.  
“Pleasepleaseplease?” he begged with puppy-eyes.  
“How about you help Prongs to not mess up his Valentine first?” Remus suggested innocently, a familiar thrill of excitement coursing through him. Even though they’d been together for nearly a year now, that trick still worked. He wondered if Sirius had realised Remus would never follow through with his threat yet.  
Well, he certainly wasn’t going to be the one to spill the secret. Tuning in on the conversation again, he heard the two boys argue over lace.  
“Padfoot!” Remus exclaimed, “You know perfectly well that Lily will not like pink lace.” In a hushed whisper he added:  
“Do you have any idea how gay that is?”  
“I’m bottoming tonight, aren’t I,” groaned Sirius.  
“You know you love it,” Remus half-growled, leaning toward him.  
“Yuck, I so didn’t wanna know that!” Looking around in surprise, he saw Peter had joined the group, looking utterly horrified.  
“Ah, Wormtail! Exactly who I was looking for!” Remus winced, knowing Peter would fall for it.  
“Really?” the plump boy excitedly asked.  
“Yup. I need you to...” At that point, Remus grabbed Sirius by the wrist and dragged him up the stairs, not wanting to see his friend get manipulated. He only hoped Wormtail wouldn’t mess Lily’s card up too bad.

“Ouch, Remus! Could you have gone even harder?” Sirius complained, sitting up in bed. Remus rolled his eyes. Even though they bottomed in turns, it was always his friend who was sore. He suspected it had something to do with pain tolerance.  
Which he had plenty of.  
“Oi, you guys! Peter and me already know much more than we ever wanted to!” James loudly protested.  
“Peter and I,” Remus absently corrected. “And yes, Padfoot, I could have. Want to try that next time?”  
“It’s your turn next time, so I think not,” Sirius growled.  
“Ouch, my poor virgin ears!”  
“Shut up, Prongs.”  
Just then, Peter woke up.  
“What’s he done this time?”  
“Well, Moony and I were having a conversation about the benefits of topping versus-”  
“You were complaining about your sore arse, is more like it.”  
Peter let out a very unmanly squeak and covered his ears with his hands.  
“JAMES POTTER! GET YOUR BUTT DOWN HERE THIS INSTANT!” Lily’s voice thundered through the dormitory. Remus winced.  
“I don’t think she liked her Valentine,” Sirius snorted, obviously amused. When James made no move to get up, Remus remarked:  
“You’ll have to face her, you know. She’ll just Summon you if you don’t.”  
James paled considerably at this prospect, having been Summoned before and fully aware of the thorough unpleasantness of the experience. Getting up, Remus gently nudged his friend toward the door.  
“Make sure I get a proper burial if she kills me,” were his last words.

“Bloody hell, Prongs, only you could have managed to pull a stunt like that. Hilarious.”  
“Padfoot,” Remus gently admonished, “it’s not that funny.” Seeing the look on his boyfriend’s face, he burst out laughing too.  
“You know Wormtail couldn’t spell anything if his life depended on it,” Sirius smirked.  
“But my life depended on it!”  
“It’s a hard name to spell!” Peter indignantly protested.  
“How many ways are there to spell ‘Lily’?” Sirius snorted. Peter looked rather hurt.  
“So, Prongs, how long?” Remus casually asked.  
“No sex ‘till we graduate,” James miserably said.  
The whole dorm burst out laughing.


End file.
